Have Faith in the Bruins

Ever since the Bruins fell down 0-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, I have been telling anyone who will listen, and those that won’t listen, to keep the faith. Believe in this team. There is something special on the ice in Boston, there just needs to be belief from a fan’s perspective they can do it. Most people thought I was nuts, and humored me for the five minutes it took out of their day.which is kind of how people handle me anyway, so in the end no big deal.

I would further my discussion by mentioning the Bruins are the last of the major sports teams in Boston to have not won a recent championship. Since 1972, we have suffered through mind numbingly bad teams, great teams that couldn’t get it done in the end and a lot of middle of the pack drudgery through the season that wound up in first round playoff losses when it got to April. There has been a bit of a resurgence on Causeway Street in the last few years, and those too have ended is varying degrees of failures the last three years. This year is different. All of the aforementioned sports teams had to overcome adversity too. 2001 saw the Bledsoe/Brady injury swap. The 2004 Red Sox, after a bitter defeat of their own at the hands of the dreaded Yankees the year prior found themselves in a deep hole against the same Yankees, and came back to win. I’m sure the Celtics had some adversity as well, but really, I could not care less. All these teams had to face adversity, and all had a mega moment of inspiration to pull them through.

In 2001, the country was reeling from the 9/11 attacks at the hands of the now defunct Osama Bin Laden. It was a terrible time for the USA, and the feel good sports story would be a team called the Patriots going against all odds to win the whole friggin thing. The monkey wrench was thrown in the works when Drew Bledsoe was nearly killed against the Jets near the end of the year. In comes some young upstart in Tom Brady at the helm, and he leads the Patriots to the Promised Land. Along the way there was the tuck rule against Oakland that ultimately decided the game, and provided more inspiration for the beloved Pats. Heavily favored St. Louis had nothing for the young upstarts, and the Patriots won on a long bomb from a kicker that is now a traitor. Enough inspiration there? No? Read on.

The 2004 Red Sox fell down 0-3 to the hated Yankees in the ALCS, and it looked like all was lost. A couple of extra inning games later, and a stolen base by Dave Roberts helped them overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to win the series, and go on to beat the Cardinals in short order. Oh yeah, there was the matter of the bloody sock game as well. Curt Shilling pitched the game of his life on one leg to help the boys defeat the Yankees and move on.

The 2011 Bruins have faced their share of adversity. From falling down 0-2 to the Canadiens, to losing what should have been a big game 4 in Tampa, to losing in game 6 against Tampa after a huge game 5 win, and then winning game 7 in a tight contest to get to the Finals. Then, when they get to the Finals, they drop 0-2 again to the favored Canucks. Sure, that’s a lot of adversity for one team, but where is the over the top, so over the top it had to come from a sports movie moment for them? Well, it happened at around the 5 minute mark of the first period last night when Aaron Rome drilled a defenseless Nathan Horton with a crushing blindside head shot.

The Canucks have now made two fatal mistakes. Other than poking the bear, which they did by taunting the Bruins during game 2 after the biting incident, and hurting one of their best guys last night, they have given the Bruins a classic We’ll do it for Johnny moment. The Bruins are a proud bunch of players that take blue collar hockey and the code very seriously. They play much better when they are angry, as evidence by the 8-1 win last night, and now, they have their over the top inspiration in avenging the injury to Horton. Couple that with the true colors of Bobby Lou, who at times is shakier than American auto maker’s finances, with the inability of the Sedins to play their game, and the Canucks have a recipe for disaster on their hands. Bruins in 7. Believe.